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Topic: Atlanta Braves

Clarksville, TN – The Braves starting pitching rotation borders between very good and great, depending on who is pitching and who they are facing. They have two great young starters (Julio Teheran and Mike Minor), two that were great last season but have been less effective this season for different reasons (Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy). And of course, there are a couple of crafty veterans in the mix, getting by on guile and moxie since the skills have started to fade (Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm). There’s also Alex Wood, a promising rookie who makes his second career start on Thursday.

Clarksville, TN – This week’s column premise is a simple one: I want to figure out whose first half was the real deal, who can be counted on to fall off or bust out and which guys are, to quote Denny Green, exactly who we thought they were. This doesn’t mean these guys can’t bounce back down the road, or regress next season. We’re just looking at how things stand for 2013. Ready, set, go!

REAL DEAL

Craig Kimbrel

Continuing to defy expectations we haven’t even set yet.

Dan Uggla

Uggla’s contract push in 2010 looks semi-remarkable in retrospect; a .287/33/100 average-homer-RBI slash line was approached exactly once, in his rookie season, and Uggla’s no spring chicken anymore.

That said, he looks like he’s figured this Atlanta thing out. His numbers have seen an uptick since the contact change, his power numbers have shown flashes of consistency and let’s be honest, if he figures out a way to hit 30 homers and keeps his average above the Mendoza line, the Braves would be in good shape. I’m buying on Uggla right now. By the way, he’s the only regular on the ‘Real Deal’ list. Yikes.

Reed Johnson

Johnson the every-day player is practically worthless (.221 average as a starter); Johnson the pinch-hitter is as good as they come, ranking second in the bigs with 10 pinch-hits. Once Jordan Schafer and Evan Gattis return and Johnson can go back to starting twice a month instead of twice a week, we’ll get the best version of Reed Johnson. «Read the rest of this article»

The Braves just can’t seem to sustain any momentum. When one good thing happens, like smacking around the Phillies on Saturday, they turn right around and have one of the season’s more lackluster showings, like they did on Sunday when Kris Medlen got kicked around and the offense barely registered a pulse. But then, they bounced back to win the 14-inning marathon against Miami, Monday. But wait! Wednesday, the Fish jumped all over the Braves in a game that was never all that close.

It’s not just the team overall; individual players can’t seem to string together anything consistent. It seems like every time B.J. Upton gets a couple of hits and looks like he’s turning the corner, he’ll go 0-fer the next couple of days. Same goes for Andrelton Simmons (offensively) and Jason Heyward. Paul Maholm and Tim Hudson will follow an excellent start with a couple of crappy ones. And so forth and so on. «Read the rest of this article»

Clarksville, TN – If you missed Part One of this week’s Report, find it here. On to Part Two, where we talk trade options or lack thereof.

Please don’t.

That’s what I think every time I hear another ‘The Braves are kicking the tires on Joba Chamberlain’ rumor. Please, don’t.

I can’t recall a more overrated pitcher in my lifetime. In seasons where he’s appeared in more than 20 games, Joba has had an ERA below 4.00 twice (2008, 2011). He’s injury-prone, he’s completely worn out his welcome with the Yankees (or perhaps just the New Yorkmedia) and he’s a free-agent at the end of the year. If you want a rental and the Yankees are willing to deal him for whatever they can get, go for it. If (as many suspect) the Yankees value him too highly, he’s not worth a top prospect or a proven big-leaguer. This FanGraphs piece delves into Joba more if you want to check it out. «Read the rest of this article»

(WHOA, try to contain yourselves. One at a time. Put your shirt back on, lady.)

In part one, I’ll hand out some fake mid-season awards, while we’ll delve into some trade prospects and the week’s usual minutiae in the second part, which will go out some time today/tomorrow/before next Memorial Day. «Read the rest of this article»

Things are easy to believe in when your team is assaulting the pitching staffs of the Giants and Blue Jays. When you watch an offense flail away against the Brewers, there’s a desire to wonder what does and doesn’t work. And in the Braves case, the offense isn’t always working.

Clarksville, TN – When you wait nearly four hours to watch a baseball game, and then you wait another two and a half for the offense to show up, you go the extra mile and write something about it at one in the morning.

For most of the evening in the series opener against the Mets, the Braves offense looked like it has at various disappointing times this season: confused, disinterested and downright broken. Against Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner and Jordan Zimmermann, this was understandable – against Dillon Gee, it was just about the most felonious thing a lineup could be.

June 17, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates a walk off two-run home run with teammates in the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Turner Field. The Braves won 2-1. Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Clarksville, TN – Four Austin Peay State University baseball student-athletes were selected, Saturday, on the third day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Draft. Along with senior closer Tyler Rogers, who was picked in Friday’s action, the five APSU players drafted this season is a program record.

It was almost one month ago to the day that I wondered if the Braves would ever ‘put it together’ in 2013. They had been successful enough at the time, but were still looking from production from key guys, relying on unproven people in big spots and employing Juan Francisco. A two-and-a-half game lead in the division was nice but not overwhelming.

A month later… three starters are hitting under .200, Evan Gattis, Luis Avilan and Anthony Varvaro are holding huge roles in late-game situations and Juan Francisco was traded for a bucket of BP balls (actually, a Double-A pitcher). A two-and-a-half game lead has… grown to seven-and-a-half games. «Read the rest of this article»